Sports

Sports

Track and field: Seven Lobos compete in five events at NCAA Indoor Championships

Bo Yu | March 8

The fierce competition at the NCAA Indoor Championships are the pinnacle of the world of track and field, and College Station, Texas will host the event this weekend. The national meet will be held on Friday and Saturday in Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium. The host school, Texas A&M has hosted the event in 2009, 2011 and will be the venue again in 2018. The seasonal winds at College Station will not be enough to put out the fire that will burn for four Lobo newcomers to the NCAA Indoor Championships.

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Sports

UFC: Defending champion retains title at UFC 209

Robert Salas | March 8

Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley retained his crown as the UFC’s welterweight champion over the weekend in a chess-like rematch against No. 1 ranked, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. The rematch between Woodley and Thompson proved to be nearly identical to the first match at UFC 205, lasting all five rounds. Both fighters set a strategic pace, spending the majority of the match dancing with each other, but landing a few good hits throughout. During the third round, "The Chosen One" executed an Olympic-caliber double-leg takedown and whaled on "Wonderboy" while he kept the opponent on the ground for the majority of the round.

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Sports

Men's Basketball: Lobos face off against Fresno State in MW quarterfinals

Isabel Gonzalez | March 8

March Madness is finally here, and with it comes the much-awaited Mountain West Tournament for the UNM men’s basketball team. After a 64-59 victory over San Diego State on Saturday, the Lobos (17-13, 10-8 MW) were able to finish the regular season in the top five of the conference, which earned them a bye that sent them straight into next Thursday’s quarterfinals to face the Fresno State Bulldogs. The tournament is a big deal because it will most likely decide who gets to go to this year’s NCAA Tournament. “I think (the Lobos) understand that and are hungry for that. We’ll find out,” said UNM head coach Craig Neal. “You can’t win the championship unless you win the first one.”

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Sports

Women's Basketball: 1-and-done for Lobos in Mountain West Tourney

Matthew Narvaiz | March 8

A buzzer-beater jumper ended the Lobos’ hopes of advancing further in the Mountain West Tournament. New Mexico (15-15, 10-8 MW) lost a heartbreaker on Tuesday afternoon to Boise State with the final score favoring the Broncos (23-7, 12-6 MW) 64-62 — the same score as the previous matchup between the two teams on Feb. 15. Despite the loss, first-year head coach Mike Bradbury had nothing but praise for his team.

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Sports

Baseball: Lobos take down NMSU 8-2 in El Paso, Texas to end road trip

Robert Maler | March 7

New Mexico baseball saw a slowdown in offensive production, but still had plenty to get by in-state rival New Mexico State Tuesday night. The Lobos (8-3) averaged nearly 20 runs per game in their most recent three-game series sweep against Air Force. And though the team didn’t reach that lofty benchmark, the bats were anything but silent as UNM notched an 8-2 neutral site win in El Paso, Texas. UNM sophomore lefty Austin Isenhart (1-0) only saw two innings of work but put himself in line for the win—his first of the season.

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Sports

Men's Tennis: Lobos fail to repeat Mountain Pacific Invite success

Matthieu Cartron | March 6

After stringing together five wins in a row, the Lobos were eager to continue their fine run of form. The Lobos traveled to Stockton, California last weekend to participate in the 3rd annual Mountain Pacific Invitational, a tournament they had won the previous year. This time, though, it wasn’t meant to be. The Lobos played Fresno State University for their first round match, which consistent solely of singles play, and the Lobos lost all but one.

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Sports

Men's Soccer: First spring exhibition results in overtime loss for Lobos

Isabel Gonzalez | March 6

The UNM men’s soccer team got back on the pitch on Saturday to kick off its 2017 spring season. Unfortunately for the Lobos, the result was not what they were looking for, as they ended up falling 2-1 in overtime to the Southern Methodist Mustangs in Dallas, Texas. The Mustangs were the first team on the board, finding the back of the net halfway through the first period. New Mexico was unable to get a goal of their own by halftime, at which point Southern Methodist enjoyed a 1-0 lead.

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Sports

Women's Basketball: Three Lobos earn All-Mountain West honors

Matthew Narvaiz | March 6

Three Lobos took home individual honors from the Mountain West on Tuesday in recognition of their strong seasons. Senior Richelle van der Keijl, junior Cherise Beynon and freshman Mykiel Burleson were all named to All-Mountain West teams. Van der Keijl was awarded Newcomer of the Year, while Burleson was named to the Mountain West All-Freshman Team and Beynon was named to the Mountain West All-Defensive Team.

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Sports

Baseball: Lobos, Aggies to clash in El Paso

Matthew Narvaiz | March 6

Lobo baseball will pack its bags and go on the road once again for their next matchup, this time facing New Mexico State in El Paso at the home of the Chihuahuas, the minor league Triple-A affiliate for the San Diego Padres. The game marks the 243rd meeting between the two teams, with the Lobos leading the all-time series 158-84. Last season, the Lobos won three of its four games against NMSU, with the lone loss coming in El Paso on the same field they’ll be playing at Tuesday.

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Sports

Women's Basketball: How the Lobos can win against Boise State in the MW Tournament

Matthew Narvaiz | March 6

The UNM women’s basketball team has its sights fully set on the Mountain West Tournament, as the Lobos enter Tuesday’s match in Las Vegas, Nevada as the fifth seed. New Mexico (15-14, 10-8 MW) will play fourth-seeded Boise State — a team that they split games with this season. The Lobos won the first matchup with the Broncos at WisePies Arena on Jan. 18, 75-68. But that was when the Lobo lineup still boasted sophomore Jaisa Nunn – who in February tore her ACL and is out for the season.

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Sports

Men's Basketball: Neal thanks seniors for contributions

Isabel Gonzalez | March 5

Four seniors were honored after a season-high crowd of 13,958 witnessed the Lobos take a 64-59 win over San Diego State on Saturday night. Two of the seniors are current players while the other two are not on the roster. Still, each of them brought something special to the program in his own way.

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News

UNM Athletics still struggling to balance budget

Cathy Cook | March 5

The UNM Athletics Department began last fall with a $1.5 million budget deficit. This fiscal year, administrators have implemented several initiatives to reduce spending, but lower-than-expected revenues from football and basketball ticket sales have been lower than projected have hampered their efforts to get back to the green. Brad Hutchins, deputy athletics director for external operations, said football and men’s basketball are the biggest earners of the department’s 22 different programs.

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Sports

Baseball: Comeback victory leads to sweep of Air Force

Matthew Narvaiz | March 5

The Lobos completed a late-inning comeback on Sunday afternoon, riding another offensive explosion to a 16-7 win and a sweep of Air Force on the road to open Mountain West play. New Mexico’s (7-3, 3-0 Mountain West) bats were once again unstoppable, as the team managed 21 hits, led by sophomore 1B Jack Zoellner and junior OF Luis Gonzalez. The two combined for nine hits, six runs and five RBI. Zoellner had a perfect 5-for-5 day at the plate, and Gonzalez went 4-for-5.

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Sports

Beach Volleyball: Lobos split Saturday matches after winless Friday

Bo Yu | March 5

The New Mexico beach volleyball team split its results on Saturday as it defeated Colorado Mesa 4-1 and lost to TCU 3-2. The Lobos (2-3) bounced back after falling to two nationally-ranked teams in a previous matchup, and fought off the Mavericks (1-4) in the first match at GCU Beach Volleyball Stadium. In the second game, the Lobos battled hard against the Horned Frogs (3-1), but could not clinch the deciding match.

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Sports

Men's Basketball: Victory over San Diego State sends Lobos to Mountain West quarterfinals

Isabel Gonzalez | March 5

After a 64-59 win over San Diego State on Saturday night, the Lobos earned themselves a ticket straight to the Thursday quarterfinals for next week’s Mountain West Tournament. “Really proud of their effort, really proud of how hard they played tonight,” said head coach Craig Neal. “This might have been the best performance they had at home. We had great fans tonight (13,958). They brought a lot of energy for us.” By taking down the Aztecs, the Lobos finished as one of the top five teams in the conference, and will therefore not have to play on Wednesday. Their overall record stands at 17-13 while they are 10-8 in the conference. They are playing Fresno State next Thursday at 2:30pm MT.

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Sports

Baseball: Lobos, Falcons combine for 52 hits, 40 runs as New Mexico wins Game 2 of series

Matthew Narvaiz | March 5

In the second of this weekend’s 3-game series, New Mexico once again put on a show with their bats, beating Air Force in a game that lasted over four hours and saw 15 extra-base hits and five pitchers give up at least five runs. In the end, the Lobos would outslug the Falcons to win 24-16. Both the Lobos (6-3, 2-0 MW) and Air Force (4-5, 0-2 MW) combined for a whopping 52 hits and 40 runs, though the Lobos got the better end of the stick. Eight Lobos had three hits or more in the game, but none were more impressive than juniors Luis Gonzalez and Carl Stajduhar, who both had four hits apiece.

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Sports

Women's Tennis: Lobos end 10-game road stretch this weekend in California

Robert Maler | March 4

UNM women’s tennis has not put together the win-loss record it probably wanted at this point in the season, but seems to be eager to change that this weekend in California. New Mexico (1-7) has been close in several of the matches so far and first-year Lobo head coach Stephanie Wooten-Quijada said the team is on the right track in terms of competing. “Today has been a great practice for us,” she said. “Our won-loss record isn’t what he had hoped for, but we are in good spirits...hopefully we’ll get it turned around shortly.”

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Sports

Men’s Soccer: Lobos to face Southern Methodist in spring opener

Matthieu Cartron | March 4

The spring season has finally arrived for the Lobos, and they will play their first game away from home to Southern Methodist. It will be UNM’s first competitive encounter since the 4-1 away loss to the University of Washington in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Lobos finished the fall with a record of 12-7-3, and won their first Conference USA Championship in program history back in November, beating Florida International University 3-0 in Huntington, West Virginia.

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Sports

Women's Basketball: UNM loses regular season finale on the road to San Diego State

Matthew Narvaiz | March 4

The regular season finale didn’t go according to plan as the Lobo women’s basketball team lost on the road Friday night against San Diego State. New Mexico (15-14, 10-8 MW) trailed for nearly the entirety of the game, falling to the Aztecs 63-51. The Lobos struggled to find the hoop all night, shooting just 29 percent from the field. But the Aztecs didn't fare much better, connecting on 35 percent of its shots against UNM. With both teams having an off shooting night, the UNM scoring threats of senior center Richelle van der Keijl and junior guard Cherise Beynon were effectively neutralized.

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Sports

Beach Volleyball: Lobos fall 4-1 to both Loyola Marymount and Grand Canyon

Bo Yu | March 4

New Mexico beach volleyball assistant coach Daniel Foo said the team did not live up to expectations on Friday, dropping a pair of matches to nationally ranked opponents. “We challenged, but didn’t live up to the hype we should have been able to compete at,” Foo said in a release. New Mexico (1-2) swept Benedictine University at Mesa on Thursday to begin the 2017 regular season, but looked like a different team just a day later. The Lobos first opponent was No. 20 Loyola Marymount (2-0) in its first big test of the season at GCU Beach Volleyball Stadium. Nerves may have been to blame for the failure as New Mexico seemed to have chances in some tight games, but fell by a score of 4-1.